Gone Forever: A True Story of Marriage, Betrayal, and Murder

Susan McFarland watched, powerless, as her husband, Rick McFarland, went into a downhill spiral of get-rich-quick schemes, quirky shopping trips, and prescription-drug abuse. Susan, a rising star at a major corporation, finally had enough. When she decided to call it quits, Rick ended her life, leaving three young boys - ages 5, 8, and 11 - without a mother. A two-month long search by law enforcement and volunteers found no trace of the missing woman....

Precious Victims: Penguin True Crime

The police in Jersey County, Illinois, accepted Paula Sims' story of a masked kidnapper who snatched her baby girl, Lorelei, from her bassinet. Three years later, her second newborn daughter suffered an identical fate - and this time the police were unable to stop searching until they had discovered the whole horrifying truth. This is the full terrifying story of twisted sexuality and hate seething below the surface of a seemingly normal family and of the massive investigation and nerve-shattering trial that made the unthinkable a reality.

A Checklist for Murder: The True Story of Robert John Peernock

Robert Peernock appeared to have the ideal life; working as a pyrotechnics engineer and computer expert and coming home to his wife and daughter, he projected the American dream. Even when he and his wife separated, it seemed amicable, just a small bump for the well-to-do family. But there was madness in his house: in private, Peernock was violent, subtly manipulative, and bordering on psychotic.

Perfect Husband: The True Story of the Trusting Bride Who Discovered Her Husband Was a Coldblooded Killer

As seen on A Current Affair - the shocking story of Florida's most bizarre multiple murder case. As Lisa and Kosta Fotopoulos lay sleeping in their home, a burglar broke in and shot Lisa at point-blank range in the head. Miraculously, she survived to learn the sobering truth about her would-be assassin - and about her sociopathic husband's deadly agenda.

Without Mercy: Obsession and Murder Under the Influence

On any Sunday morning in the Florida Redlands, Dee Casteel might have served you pancakes at the IHOP. She was a hard-working, cheerful waitress, one of the nicest people you'd ever want to know. She was also a three-bottle-a-day alcoholic, hopelessly in love with the IHOP's manager, Allen Bryant. Bryant wanted his live-in lover, IHOP owner Art Venecia, dead. And Dee Casteel helped him to arrange it.

There Must Be Evil: The Life and Murderous Career of Elizabeth Berry

In 1887, Elizabeth Berry found notoriety throughout the nation after the death of her daughter, perceived by many to be the cruellest of murders. There were many who protested her innocence in the affair, but there were also suspicions surrounding another death related to the nurse - that of her mother. Suddenly Elizabeth Berry's dark story began appearing darker still. For the first time we discover the true story behind this infamous case of the first woman to be hanged at Liverpool's Walton Prison.

Bitter Remains: A Custody Battle, a Gruesome Crime, and the Mother Who Paid the Ultimate Price

On July 13, 2011, Laura Jean Ackerson of Kinston, North Carolina, went to pick up her two toddler sons. It would be the last time she was seen alive. Laura's ex, Grant Hayes - the father of her two sons - and his wife, Amanda, the mother of his newborn daughter, both pointed the finger at each other as the one guilty of murdering Laura, cutting up her body, and then transporting and disposing of the remains on the shores of Oyster Creek, Texas.

Silent Witness: The Karla Brown Murder Case (Onyx)

An account of the murder of Karla Brown describes how, after years of investigations, a prosecutor's brilliant courtroom strategies won a conviction against a long-time loser with a vicious hatred of women.

My Sweet Angel: The True Story of Lacey Spears, the Seemingly Perfect Mother Who Murdered Her Son in Cold Blood

Lacey Spears made international headlines in January 2015, when she was charged with the "depraved mind" murder of her five-year-old son, Garnett. Prosecutors alleged that the 27-year-old mother had poisoned him with high concentrations of salt through his stomach tube. To the outside world, Lacey had seemed like the perfect mother, regularly posting dramatic updates on her son's harrowing medical problems. But in reality, Lacey was a textbook case of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy.

The Apprentice of Split Crow Lane: The Story of the Carr's Hill Murder

Gateshead, April 1866. The Apprentice of Split Crow Lane takes the forgotten case of a child murder in 1866 as a springboard to delve deeply into the pysche of the Victorians. What Jane Housham finds in this exploration of guilt, sexual deviance and madness is a diagnosis that is still ripe for the challenging and a sentence that provokes even our liberal modern judgment.

The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife and the Missing Corpse

1897: An elderly widow, Anna Maria Druce, made a strange request of the London Ecclesiastical Court: it was for the exhumation of the grave of her late father-in-law, T. C. Druce. Behind her application lay a sensational claim: that Druce had been none other than the eccentric and massively wealthy 5th duke of Portland, and that the now dead duke had faked the death of his alter ego. When opened, Anna Maria contended, Druce's coffin would be found to be empty. The legal case that followed would last for ten years.

If I Can't Have You:: Susan Powell, Her Mysterious Disappearance, and the Murder of Her Children

The tragic story of Susan Powell and her murdered boys, Charlie and Braden, is the only case that rivals the Jon Benet Ramsey saga in the annals of true crime. When the pretty, blonde Utah mother went missing in December of 2009 the media was swept up in the story - with lenses and microphones trained on Susan's husband, Josh. He said he had no idea what happened to his young wife, and that he and the boys had been camping in the middle of a snowstorm.

Written in Blood: A True Story of Murder and the Deadly 16-Year-Old Secret that Tore a Family Apart

Michael Peterson was a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, a candidate for mayor and a New York Times best-selling novelist. His wife Kathleen was the first woman ever admitted to the Duke University School of Engineering, a brilliant executive and a loving and fun-filled mother-the last woman who one would expect to become a victim in her own home.

Secret Lessons

This audiobook chronicles the shocking and appalling story of the handsome, popular, and energetic sixth-grade teacher in a Caseyville, Illinois, elementary school, who was accused of sexually abusing numerous young girls.

Bitter Almonds: The True Story of Mothers, Daughters, and the Seattle Cyanide Murders

Stella Nickell's small-time world was one of big-time dreams. In 1986, her biggest one came true when her husband died during a seizure, making her the beneficiary of a $175,000-plus insurance payoff - until authorities discovered that Bruce Nickell's headache capsules had been laced with cyanide. In an attempt to cover her tracks, Stella did the unconscionable. She saw to it that a stranger would also become a 'random casualty' of cyanide-tainted painkillers.

The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson

The definitive account of the O. J. Simpson trial, The Run of His Life is a prodigious feat of reporting that could have been written only by the foremost legal journalist of our time. First published less than a year after the infamous verdict, Jeffrey Toobin's nonfiction masterpiece tells the whole story, from the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman to the ruthless gamesmanship behind the scenes of "the trial of the century".

Conviction: The Untold Story of Putting Jodi Arias Behind Bars

Juan Martinez, the fiery prosecutor who convicted notorious murderess Jodi Arias for the disturbing killing of Travis Alexander, speaks for the first time about the shocking investigation and sensational trial that captivated the nation. Through two trials, America watched with bated breath as Juan Martinez fought relentlessly to convict Jodi Arias of murder one for viciously stabbing her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, to death.

The Fall of the House of Wilde: Oscar Wilde and His Family

The Fall of the House of Wilde for the first time places Oscar Wilde as a member of one of the most dazzling Anglo-Irish families of Victorian times and in the broader social, political and religious context. A remarkable and perceptive account, this is a major repositioning of our first modern celebrity, a man whose own fall from grace in a trial as public as his father's marked the end of fin de siècle decadence.

Too Pretty to Live: The Catfishing Murders of East Tennessee

When Bill Payne and Billie Jean Hayworth began their romance, they unknowingly set in motion a diabolical plot that would end with them murdered in their own home, Hayworth holding their mercifully unharmed infant. Chris was a CIA agent who was concerned about Jenelle. Seeing the cyberbullying she had endured, and worried for her safety, Chris got in touch with Jenelle's protective parents and her devoted boyfriend, warning them that Payne and Hayworth were a danger to Jenelle.

Bitch on Wheels: The Sharon Nelson Double Murder Case

When the body of 45-year-old Glen Harrelson was found in his Denver home, police tried to contact his wife, but soon they made a startling realization. She had played the part of grieving widow once before: Her previous husband also had died a mysterious accidental death...

The Night Stalker: The Life and Crimes of One of America's Deadliest Killers

Twenty-five years after Richard Ramirez left 13 dead, paralysing the city of Los Angeles, his name is still synonymous with fear, torture, and sadistic murder. Philip Carlo's US best seller The Night Stalker, based on three years of meticulous research and extensive interviews with Ramirez, reveals the killer and his horrifying crimes to be even more chilling than anyone could have imagined.

Before He Wakes: A True Story of Money, Marriage, Sex and Murder

The true story of Barbara Stager, a devoted mother, loving wife, and dedicated church leader who committed an almost perfect crime. By all accounts, Stager seemed to lead the perfect life in her community in Durham, North Carolina. After her husband, popular high school coach Russ, died tragically, the police were inclined to believe her story - that she accidentally shot him. Suspicions rose when the police discovered that Stager's previous husband had died similarly 10 years prior.

Elizabeth I and Her Circle

This is the story of Elizabeth I's inner circle and the crucial human relationships which lay at the heart of her personal and political life. Using a wide range of original sources - including private letters, portraits, verse, drama, and state papers - Susan Doran provides a vivid and often dramatic account of political life in Elizabethan England and the queen at its center.

Bitter Blood: A True Story of Southern Family Pride, Madness, and Multiple Murder

In this unrelenting real-life drama of three wealthy families connected by marriage and murder, Bledsoe recounts the shocking events, obsessive love, and bitter custody battles that led toward the bloody climax that took nine lives.

Publisher's Summary

Michael Severance survived five tours of duty with the Air Force in the war torn Middle East. But he could not survive five months of marriage to Wendi Davidson.

Wendi, a young veterinarian in the isolated city of San Angelo, Texas, decided the solution to her problem was to give her husband a lethal injection.

About the author: Diane Fanning is the author of the Edgar Award finalist Written in Blood: A True Story of Murder and a Deadly 16-Year-Old Secret That Tore a Family Apart. Her other works of true crime include the bestseller Mommy's Little Girl, The Pastor's Wife, Gone Forever, and Through the Window. She is also the author of the Lucinda Pierce Mysteries: The Trophy Exchange, Punish the Deed, Mistaken Identity, Twisted Reason, and False Front. She has been featured on 48 Hours, 20/20, Court TV, the Today show, and the Discovery Channel, and has been interviewed on dozens of radio stations coast to coast. Her books are sold throughout the English-speaking world, including the UK and Australia, and there are more than half a million copies in print. Before becoming a writer, Fanning worked in advertising, and she earned more than 70 Addy Awards.

What the Critics Say

"It's the naiveté of the people who plot the 'perfect murder' who keep you in the business of writing fascinating books about their mistakes and keep people like me rushing to the bookstores to read the books." (Michael Stone, M.D., forensic psychiatrist, Columbia University)

An animal mad vet who would never put an animal down if she could possibly save it uses her considerable knowledge and skill to "euthanize" her husband of a few months because her bitter mother did not like him? Wendi Davidson had a history of latching onto a man and either getting pregnant of pretending to be so. Her mother had a history of never liking any man that Wendi hooked up with.

The book is very well read by Shelby Lewis. She manages to portray all the characters with such interest she keeps you hooked.

I must say I have no idea whether POISONED is a good story or not. The sing-song narrator, Shelby Lewis, seems to have taken singing lessons instead of speaking proper tone to fit the story. Tried several times to listen but couldn't get past the narrator. Pay attention, Fanning, to whom you're hiring. Listen to this narrator and you'll instantly understand my comments.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Ramona Binkley

Canyon Lake, Texas, United States

18/03/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"A Poisoned Passion"

What made the experience of listening to A Poisoned Passion the most enjoyable?

The narrator did a good job. I read true crime books a lot and this wasn't one of my top 10 but I definatly enjoyed the read.

What did you like best about this story?

Diane Fanning is one of my favorite authors. She does a great job of delivering the facts of the case in True Crime books.

What does Shelby Lewis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Shelby Lewis did a good job narrating the book. I am able to listen on my one hour commute to and from work.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Franma

12/06/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Great read."

Some people complained about the narrator in previous reviews. I so disagree. She was easy to listen to. Amazing storyline. This woman/husband killer leaves you angry. Author takes you through the family history, crime and incarceration of this woman. I would recommend reading this book.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Nickie

Battleground, WA, United States

02/05/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"Great narrater!"

Very good listen! I thought the narrater was excellent! The husband killer Wendy Davidson should rot in jail but sadly will be out soon. Huge injustice for husbands family!! They should have been awarded custody of there murdered sons baby! Justice system, cps failed them miserably big time! Sad!!! Wendy Davidson and her whole family are a bunch of losers who will never take responsibility for anything in there lives! It's apparent in this book! I don't understand people like this? Bad genes I guess! My condolences to Micheal Severances family.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

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